Just about everything has gone right for 41-year-old Mark Recchi since he was whisked away from hockey purgatory in Tampa Bay and traded to the Cup-hungry Bruins on March 4.
“Rex” had 10 goals and six assists in 18 games after donning the Spoked B sweater and — more importantly, since this was the big reason that Boston acquired his left-handed shot — piled up eight power-play points while gelling instantly with the rest of the first PP unit.
Odes were written about his uncanny ability to tip pucks and redirect shots from a familiar position camped out by one of the goalposts, and the 20-year veteran was widely endorsed as the “right choice” by B’s GM Peter Chiarelli at the trade deadline.
Given Recchi’s pedigree as a multiple Stanley Cup champion and as a player that’s seen and done pretty much everything during a Hall of Fame hockey career, more of the same was expected once the postseason kicked off.
But Recchi has, by and large, disappeared off the scoring sheet during the playoffs, totaling only one assist while barely registering a blip on the power-play radar screen in six games. There’s certainly a connection between Recchi going cold on the PP and the Bruins’ man advantage unit suffering through a fruitless 0-for-14 stretch headed into Wednesday night’s Game 3 against Carolina.
It wouldn’t be shocking if head coach Claude Julien decided to shake things up among a top power play unit that appeared out of sync for large portions of the first two games of a best-of-seven series tied at one game apiece.
But — then again — the PP looked as explosive as it has in the series during an encouraging third period of Game 2 that saw the Bruins storm the Canes net in all-out attempt to come back from a 2-0 deficit.
Either way, Recchi isn’t about to snap his stick against the boards or hang his head in dejection despite the meager postseason scoring totals. The veteran knows success in the playoffs oftentimes has little too do with statistics, and much more to do with playing roles set out in the coach’s game plan against a particular team.
“We’re 5-1 so there’s no sense in getting frustrated,” said Recchi. “It’s funny how you lose one game and then see all of a sudden what things start getting mentioned. My responsibility is to be a leader, play physical, play the right way, lead the right way and that’s part of it. There are a lot of guys that score goals on this team.
“(Our line) has a responsibility on this team as well,” added Recchi. “Five-on-five, we’re playing the other team’s best line most of the time, and five-on-five we haven’t been scored on much. That’s saying something when you’re going against players like Kovalev and Staal, and of course we’ve got Big Z leading the way.”
When Recchi skates with Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew during 5-on-5 play the veteran line’s responsibility is largely defensive rather than offensive. The trio has been performing as something of a checking line while matching up with Carolina’s top forwards (Eric Staal, Ray Whitney, Erik Cole) through much of the first two games. Recchi’s line also drew a similar assignment on Canadiens sniper Alex Kovalev during the first round, and they effectively bottled up the Russian superstar when it mattered most.
During six games when their line’s marching orders were to silence the scoring abilities of both Kovalev and Staal, they’ve allowed three goals in six games to accomplished scorers looking to do major damage.
“The playoffs are about a lot more than just goals,” said Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward, won a Cup with Recchi while skating for the Canes back in 2006. “You can score all the goals you want, but if you’re down by a goal when the buzzer sounds then it’s all for naught.
“You’ve got to have lines that play against (Carolina’s) top lines,” added Ward. “As much as he’s stifled a little bit (offensively) we’re playing against (other team’s) top lines. Kovalev got two goals and I wouldn’t say they were the best goals. He didn’t have a whole lot of bearing (on the series) and they matched up against the Recchi, Bergeron, Kobasew line. You’ve got to have those characteristics in the game and in certain lines to let the other lines do what they can do. He leads in the locker room and with the effective direction of the team on the ice in ways other than the scoreboard.”
Recchi and Co. teamed with Zdeno Chara to help shut down the Canes attack in Game 1, but stumbled a bit in Game 2 while serving out the role that was mapped out for them before the series started.
The more perplexing head-scratcher with Recchi is clearly the power play, where he’s inflicted plenty of damage this season for both the Bolts and the Spoked B.
But after looking at the bagels on Recchi’s postseason stats report card, it’s not as simple as it might seem.
Recchi isn’t the Natural Born Scorer that he surely was in his prime, and now the veteran forward relies more on the skaters working around him to help create a situation conducive to his gritty skill set. Recchi needs to battle down low against bigger players and carve out that perfect position by the post, but he also needs the PP point men to create a clear lane to fire heavy, clean shots toward the net. Only then can Recchi use the God-given hands and stick skills to make the perfect tip and get back to the bountiful power-play ability he flashed down the stretch for the Black and Gold. He just missed on a tip of a Dennis Wideman shot in Game against the Canes, and Recchi was looking for his next shot down at the RBC Center on Wednesday night.
“I know it’s going to come. It’s part of it,” said Recchi. “I’m going to go to the same areas that I’ve been going to all season. Eventually pucks are going to go and that’s the nature of the game. I have other responsibilities to do and I can’t get too fixed on any one particular thing.”
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